Time to take quick look at the results of my 4th Transfan Survey:
1) Botcon 2000: Are you going?
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
37 Respondent(s) Definite yes!
33 Respondent(s) Positively maybe!
37 Respondent(s) Absolutely not!
I've asked this again to see how the results changed from last time. The percentage of "Yes" answers stayed the same, but the number of "Maybe"s seems to have increased. I hope this means people are taking a secong look at going.
2) Hypothetically, if Botcon was being held in any of these cities, which would you attend?
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
29 Respondent(s) Boston
32 Respondent(s) Philadelphia
24 Respondent(s) Baltimore
33 Respondent(s) Atlanta
22 Respondent(s) Detroit
35 Respondent(s) Chicago
27 Respondent(s) Dallas
15 Respondent(s) Denver
17 Respondent(s) Seattle
25 Respondent(s) Los Angeles
Here I just wanted to see if there'd be a big discrepancy between how many people would go if Botcon were held in different cities. Chicago, Atlanta & Philly seem to be the big 3. Of course, Chicago has had a show, Transcon 97 (and you can bitch all you want about MIB shows, but I stand behind my haul saying you missed a good one! Pics on my site.), but the other two have never had a show anywhere near them. And neither is really a high-cost area, so I suspect costs could be reasonable. Who knows what the future holds?
3) Which is your favorite US Botcon Exclusive?
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
29 Respondent(s) G2 Breakdown
10 Respondent(s) Nightracer
14 Respondent(s) Onyx Primal
8 Respondent(s) Packrat/Fractyl
4 Respondent(s) BC97 Dinner Exclusive
12 Respondent(s) Antagany
1 Respondent(s) Vice-Grip
14 Respondent(s) Sandstorm
16 Respondent(s) Windrazor
It doesn't surprise me that the G2 Breakdown is the run-away winner here. It is, after all, a recolored G1. I am quite surprised at the following Onyx Primal has, though. I've never heard anyone praise the Optimus bat design, and with the hatred of MIB, I would have expected that one to get almost no votes... Or at least less than Antagany.
4) Which US Botcon Exclusives do you own?
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
8 Respondent(s) G2 Breakdown
6 Respondent(s) Nightracer
22 Respondent(s) Onyx Primal
19 Respondent(s) Packrat/Fractyl
6 Respondent(s) BC97 Dinner Exclusive
20 Respondent(s) Antagany
21 Respondent(s) Vice-Grip
24 Respondent(s) Sandstorm
27 Respondent(s) Windrazor
OK, who's hoarding all of last year's exclusives, people??? Come on, you know who you are!
Seriously, though, there should be at least twice as many people with those as the two from the year before. There were twice as many made and they are more recent. They only explanation I can think of is that a ton of people bought extras hoping to make major $$$ on them, and now that the market has crashed, they're just sitting on them. Guys, these will NEVER go for Antagany-like prices. There were just too darn many of these made.
BTW, has anyone EVER seen a 97 Dinner Exclusive set, complete with the artwork, for sale? I haven't. That's because they all went into the hands of serious collectors. That's the way exclusives should be.
5) What was the best season of the US Transformers TV show?
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
22 Respondent(s) G1 Year 1
30 Respondent(s) G1 Year 2
15 Respondent(s) G1 Post Movie Episodes
3 Respondent(s) BW Year 1
21 Respondent(s) BW Year 2
16 Respondent(s) BW Year 3
3 Respondent(s) BM Season 1
I don't get this at all. I thought BW Year 1 was great. It had the most episodes, great character development... It was the key to the success of BW. The other ones were good, but I don't think they were any better than year one, and there were only half as many.
Y'know this 13 esisode season thing really bites.
6) Who is your favorite original Minicar?
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
41 Respondent(s) Bumblebee
22 Respondent(s) Cliffjumper
20 Respondent(s) Brawn
4 Respondent(s) Gears
11 Respondent(s) Huffer
11 Respondent(s) Windcharger
I think this gives an answer to "if the show character matters" question. It does. Bumblebee was the only major mini-car on the show. The toy wasn't anything special... On par with the others.
7) Which are you more excited about: Beast Machines or the Japanese "TF 2000" line?
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
31 Respondent(s) Beast Machines
76 Respondent(s) TF 2000
I agree with the majority here. The big draw to Beast Machines was that Transformers was heading back "towards" it's roots. Well, Takara isn't taking baby steps. They know that fans want real vehicles, and that what they deliver. Hasbro, like any good American corporation, let's it's marketers decide what people want. Incorrectly, of course!
8) Do you consider yourself a "lifelong" Transformer fan?
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
107 Respondent(s) Yes
3 Respondent(s) No
9) What percentage of current Transformer fans do you think are going to turn out to be "lifelong" fans?
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
3 Respondent(s) 100%
2 Respondent(s) 90%
7 Respondent(s) 80%
10 Respondent(s) 70%
19 Respondent(s) 60%
19 Respondent(s) 50%
15 Respondent(s) 40%
16 Respondent(s) 30%
10 Respondent(s) 20%
9 Respondent(s) 10%
Okay, you have to take these two questions together. 98% of the Transfans claim to be lifers, yet they believe only 40-50% really are! This reminds me of back in the first days of college when they tell you that 50% of the people will change their major... Everyone, of course, thinks "I'll never do that".
Well, I think that 40-50% is WAY high. When I say lifelong, I mean LIFE-long. Not 5, 10 or even 20 years. More like 50 to 75 years. I bet 50 years from now, when Transformers are ancient toy history (like WWII era toys today), no more than 10-20% of us will still care about them enough to be involved in the fandom.
10) Which is your favorite Dinobot?
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
54 Respondent(s) Grimlock
8 Respondent(s) Slag
14 Respondent(s) Snarl
10 Respondent(s) Sludge
23 Respondent(s) Swoop
I kind of though Slag would do a little better. I always thought he was kind of cool...
11) In "your" TF universe, do the Dinobots act like morons or are they more on par with their Tech Spec intelligence rating?
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
45 Respondent(s) It's just like in the TV show.
64 Respondent(s) They are smarter than on the TV show.
One of the most annoying things about watching the G1 TV show is the Dinobots. Why? Because everytime I hear "Me Grimlock", I am blatently reminded that I am watching a show aimed at 6 year olds. But I guess that's what they felt they had to do to get across the point of "less intellegence" to little kids. Though, they did it much better in BW. It was obvious that Scorponok wasn't all too bright, yet we weren't insulted by having him portrayed as a complete moron.
12) Who is the most "evil" of the Decepticons?
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
36 Respondent(s) Megatron
23 Respondent(s) Starscream
33 Respondent(s) Galvatron
9 Respondent(s) Shockwave
5 Respondent(s) Soundwave
4 Respondent(s) Cyclonus
In my mind, I think there were two main choices, and two "conditional" choices. Megatron and Starscream were no-brainers... Movie Galvatron is a good one, though I follow the theory that TV Galvatron was more insane than evil. And Comic Book Shockwave is a good one, while TV Shockwave seemed more like a computer than a living being. Out of that group, I picked Starscream, because I remember him as more of a chaotic, no-rules, back-stabbing, sell his own creator, kind of evil. Megatron actually seemed to play by the rules occasionally (Making deals and even keeping some... At least when it suited him.) In old Dungeons & Dragons terms, I see Starscream as Chaotic-Evil and Megatron as closer to Lawful-Evil.
13) What other toy lines do you collect?
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
21 Respondent(s) Gobots
8 Respondent(s) Shogun Warriors/Godaikins
28 Respondent(s) Robotech/Macross or other 80's Anime
24 Respondent(s) GiJoe
28 Respondent(s) Star Wars
17 Respondent(s) Spawn
17 Respondent(s) Comic Book Superhero toys
11 Respondent(s) Sports/Wrestling toys
7 Respondent(s) Battle Beasts
7 Respondent(s) Power Rangers
You know, 3 years ago, anyone admitting to liking Gobots would have been laughed off the net! Now, loose Gobot are bringing in about the same prices as TF mini-bots. Maybe it's just because so many people have completed their TF collections and need something new to look for.
And why the heck do I leave off Lego every time I ask this question???
14) Where are you? (Pick the best fit)
This report is based on 111 respondents that have visited this page.
68 Respondent(s) Eastern USA (EST/CST)
17 Respondent(s) Western USA (West of Central time zone)
15 Respondent(s) Canada
0 Respondent(s) Mexico/South America
8 Respondent(s) Europe
0 Respondent(s) Asia
1 Respondent(s) Australia/NZ
0 Respondent(s) Middle East
1 Respondent(s) Africa
Just wanted to get an idea where everyone is from. One thing to note here... Going back to question 2... More people said they's attend an LA show than live in the Western USA. I guess this does make the point that a lot of people will make the effort to go to Botcon no matter where it is!
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geocities.com/area51)